Growing up in San Francisco, Nicollette Warner saw graffiti more as works of art than a blight to the community and a nuisance to residents and city employees.

Her perspective changed in recent weeks as she and four fellow business majors at the University of Redlands researched the costs and implications of graffiti for a class project.

The group presented their findings Thursday at a Faith and Justice Summit held at The Rock Church & World Outreach Center in San Bernardino, where graffiti workshops were offered to cops and clergy.

“I see graffiti more as an issue now than an art form,” Warner said. “I knew it was illegal but I didn’t think it was that bad. Now I see the financial cost to cities.”

The United States spends about $8 billion each year removing graffiti, a figure that jumps to more than $15 billion when law enforcement, court and probation costs are added in, said Danielle Topping, who was in charge of the group’s research.

It can also impact housing values. Tagging on a home can decrease its value by up to 20 percent, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The college students focused on San Bernardino, Redlands and Riverside police departments for their survey, meeting with officers and getting a crash course in the departments’ GIS technology.

They then put together a 23-slide PowerPoint presentation with data and possible solutions, hoping to inspire community members, law enforcement and faith-based groups in the crowd.

“The goal we’ve been tasked with is teaching the teachers,” said Grant Jostol.

The group told the audience about how graffiti can give a neighborhood the perception of being plagued by crime, sometimes leading to residents losing pride and contributing to the area’s demise.

They interviewed the manager at Victoria Village Apartments in Highland, where a wall bordering the 210 Freeway is daily hit by taggers. The manager told students she spends $1,400 to repaint the wall every month.

“The implications of graffiti are grave and they affect every corner,” Bailey Hughes said in a practice run of the presentation.

Their professor, Mara Winick, said the student group had learned valuable lessons on team work and how agencies can work together to resolve community issues.

“The students are so motivated and excited to be addressing issues in their community,” she said. “I expect this project to live on.”